Lexus is developing a manual transmission for electric cars

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Toyota is developing a manual transmission that it hopes to use in future electric cars, with the intention of making EVs more engaging to drive. The project’s under the remit of Lexus, who will take a leading role in the development of all Toyota’s high performance electric cars moving forward. The pairing of a manual transmission with an electric powertrain might seem counterintuitive, but Lexus insists the scope of the technology goes beyond just the action of changing gear, forming a centrepoint of augmenting an entire combustion-powered driving experience in a low-carbon EV.

Rather than physically fitting a mechanical manual transmission to the back-end of an electric motor, this technology uses an unconnected gear stick and clutch pedal that use haptic drivers to generate ‘feel’. This is then combined with clever software and sound generators within the cabin to create a complete experience. Both elements are physically connected to, well nothing, but utilise technology already available on today’s cars to create virtual feedback.

The virtual clutch pedal is something that’s already been introduced in a couple of models that feature clutch-by-wire systems. At the moment, they sit at bookends of the car market, with Hyundai using the technology on its i20 supermini (although not the i20 N) and Koenigsegg using its own system on the complex multi-clutch transmission it debuted on the CC850 supercar. This system recreates the feel of a mechanically-linked clutch pedal through a haptic driver in the pedal itself, much like motors attached to contemporary electric steering systems. We’ve already had a go with the virtual clutch pedal in Hyundai’s i20, and aside from not jolting forward when you aggressively drop the clutch, you’d never know there was no physical connection.

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